Californian astronomers plan giant telescope

[emad]

From the UK's BBC News:

US scientists have drawn up plans to build the largest telescope ever seen. Its 30-metre-diameter mirror would be almost 10 times as big as those in the Keck telescopes in Hawaii, currently the world's largest observatories. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is funding a $17.5m feasibility study and it could be ready for work by 2012. Astronomers say the new telescope would allow a more detailed look at distant stars and galaxies, and aid the search for planets beyond our Solar System.

The optical and infrared telescope would be built with adaptive optics, which will flex in a controlled manner to compensate for the way the Earth's turbulent atmosphere distorts the light reaching the planet's surface. The system would result in images more than 12 times sharper than those from the Hubble Space Telescope. The new observatory will also have nine times the light-gathering ability of one of the 10-metre Keck twin telescopes.

"Constructing and operating a telescope of this size will be a huge undertaking requiring a large collaborative effort," says Richard Ellis, director of optical observatories at the California Institute of Technology. "The major goals of the design phase will include an extensive review and optimisation of the telescope design, addressing areas of risk, for example by early testing of key components, and staffing a project office in Pasadena."

Using such a large and powerful telescope, astrophysicists will be able to study the formation of galaxies at the dawn of the cosmos, as well as the processes which lead to young planetary systems around nearby stars. "The key new capabilities promised by the Thirty Meter Telescope will include a huge collecting area for studying the faintest sources, which are often the most important to understand," says Chuck Steidel, Caltech professor of astronomy. Following the design study, the final phase of the project, not yet funded, will be the construction of the observatory at a yet undetermined site in Hawaii, Chile, or Mexico. If all goes well, the telescope could see its initial observations - first light - in 2012.

<snip>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3203963.stm

Maybe they can use it to look up Arnie's ass if he ever needs one of those rectal investigations that Dumbo had to check for polyps...

[JackSwift]

1. This is marvellous news for big science

I'm hoping that all my PC dollars spent on Intel and not AMD (nothing personal, I just like mainstream) help out science.

[pmbryant]

2. That's a giant leap from current technology

17.5 million dollars just for a feasability study! Wow!

These guys are certainly ambitious. Unfortunately, I can't get the link to work. :shrug:

--Peter

[Judi Lynn]

6. Worked for me..........................

Maybe this would help?

~~~~ link ~~~~

Good article.

[pmbryant]

7. Thanks

I did get it to work eventually.

:thumbsup:

--Peter

[alfredo]

3. Makes my 10" dob sulk.

[goforit]

4. This is outstanding news!!!!.......

:bounce:

[Ratty]

5. Adaptive optics

Adaptive optics is one of those technologies I can't believe actually works. And yet, apparently it does. That you can flex and bend mirrors to exactly compensate for chaotic atmospheric distortion. Unbelievable.

Of course I've always found it nearly impossible to believe that a 30 ton metal 747 can actually get off the ground and fly.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

8. Now, if they could just cure baldness

I think that would be worth a Nobel Prize!

[0rganism]

9. Odd that the BBC ignores ESO's VLT operation (Paranal)

I saw a documentary on VLT last night, it's quite impressive. 4 8m telescopes, using adaptive optics, that can operate independently or in combined modes. Full interferometry is scheduled to come on line in 2005. It's Badass.

"The ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the Paranal Observatory (Atacama, Chile) will be the world's largest and most advanced optical telescope. It comprises four 8.2-m reflecting Unit Telescopes and several moving 1.8-m Auxiliary Telescopes, the light beams of which can be combined in the VLT Interferometer (VLTI). With its unprecedented optical resolution and unsurpassed surface area, the VLT produces extremely sharp images and can record light from the faintest and most remote objects in the Universe."

http://www.eso.org/paranal/

[karlschneider]

10. I'm certainly not -against- this project, but it sure seems to me that a

space-based scope (new generation Hubbel, etc.) would make more sense,
which don't need adaptive corrections...

Terrestrial-based astronomy is always going to be compromised by our atmosphere (& weather)
:eyes:

[0rganism]

11. The problem with space-based scopes is maintenance

You have to run a manned space mission to do any repairs. That's risky and expensive. Check out the Paranal link I posted; with adaptive optics they get images far sharper than Hubbel, which is now sometimes used as a "spotter" for good VLT focus projects.

[AlecBGreen]

12. whoa mama

"The system would result in images more than 12 times sharper than those from the Hubble Space Telescope."

COOL!

[0rganism]

14. Don't just take their word for it...

Check out the images on their site.

Whoa, indeed.

some nebulas

http://www.eso.org/outreach/info-events/ut1fl/astroim-galaxy-spiral.html">spiral galaxies

mama!

[pmbryant]

16. Cool pictures, but they don't compare with Hubble yet

At this point in time, nothing can come close to Hubble's ability to produce spectacular, pretty pictures.

:-)

--Peter

[pmbryant]

15. Many problems with space-based telescopes

But the big problem is expense. The Hubble is a rather small telescope (2.4 meter mirror), yet it cost well over $1 BILLION dollars.

The Keck telescopes in Hawaii (the largest single mirror optical telescopes currently) have 10 meter mirrors. That means they collect 16 times the light of the Hubble. That is a huge factor that means the Keck telescopes can see much farther out into the Universe than the Hubble, even handicapped as they are underneath the Earth's atmosphere. They cost around $100 million each, as I recall. At least 10 times cheaper than the Hubble.

The new telescope being proposed here will have a 30 meter diameter mirror (!) That is 10 times wider than the Hubble mirror and 100 times the area. It will not fit in the Space Shuttle. Launching that into space would no doubt be horrendously expensive, even compared to the Hubble. It would require many, many separate launches and then require assembly in orbit by astronauts. Assembling a telescope is a delicate operation, even on the ground, without spacesuits on.

These are just some of the reasons why the future of big optical telescopes remains on solid Earth rather than in space.

Space telescopes are still vital to probe the universe via wavelengths of light that simply do not make it through the atmosphere at all. Such as X-rays, ultraviolet, and far infrared. But at visual wavelengths, ground telescopes, especially now that adaptive optics is a proven technology, will continue to dominate for a long time to come.

--Peter

[Octafish]

17. Let's do BOTH!

A 30-meter scope makes my eyes tear with joy!

Same goes for Hubble II.

Oh... to live in such a time. We are blessed!

[Whoa_Nelly]

13. Hope they get pics of

the asteroid that's on its way toward earth...could possibly be hitting us in 2014.